OJHL’s Draft Eligible Players

Most of you know my previous work covering the Ontario Hockey League and its players eligible for the National Hockey League Draft. And now I take the foray into the Junior A circuit and the Ontario Junior Hockey League.

While my focus will remain with the OHL, I’ll take some time to look at what the OJHL has to offer. I’ve followed the league as much as possible, but this will be my first attempt at covering the league.

While the OJHL is predominantly known as a developmental league for the OHL and colleges in both Canada (CIS) and the United States (NCAA), they have some very recognizable names come through the OJHL on their way to the NHL.

Andrew Cogliano, Stephen Weiss, Mike Cammalleri, Cory Stillman, Raffi Torres, Dominic Moore, Justin Williams, Kevin Bieksa, Steve Eminger, Brendan & Reilly Smith and Trevor Daily are some of the better-known names to have played in the OJHL and gone on to the NHL since 2000.

While the 2016 and 2017 NHL Drafts only saw two OJHL players selected in each year, 2018 will prove interesting for no other reason than Toronto Jr Canadiens star forward Jack McBain. The star player led Canada to a gold medal at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial in August scoring a goal and two assists in a 4-1 victory over the Czech Republic in the gold medal game and is projecting to be a top 15 selection at the 2018 draft.

Jack McBain, Toronto Jr Canadiens. Photo courtesy of OJHL Images

Below is a team-by-team breakdown and the draft eligible players attending their team’s camps (players in bold are on the opening night rosters). Some players have already committed to US Colleges and Universities for 2018 and 2019 and you will see those listed. You will also see some players committed to OHL teams. Those players are currently at OHL team camps and could return to the OJHL if they fail to make the OHL roster.

Finally, you will see players that have been drafted by an OHL team or United States Hockey League teams. The majority of those players drafted will likely play a season in the OJHL before making the jump to the OHL or the USHL.

Bare with me if you see an error or two. I’m still building connections with the teams. But if you do see an error, please feel free to leave a comment in the comment section.